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jkristia

20 Posts

313789

February 10th, 2014 20:00

Stylus on Venue 8" Pro ?

A week ago I ordered a stylus from Dell, I had a chat with some person how guaranteed that this particular stylus works with the Venue 8" Pro.

I ordered stylus #331-4193 "Stylus with Tip, Dell Latitude XT3, Customer Kit". I know it says Latitude, and I pointed that out when I ordered it, but as I mentioned I was guaranteed it will work.

I received it today, came in a small box with no instructions what-so-ever, no mentioning of any drivers to install or anything (it did come with the battery, and unfortunately I do not have an AAAA batteries, so I cant try a different one.

Of course it does not work - anyone knows if this should work, if so, do I need to install any driver, or enable the stylus in Windows somewhere / somehow ?

Lou Stule

214 Posts

February 10th, 2014 23:00

For whatever consolation it provides, you were right. In my own experience, Dell's sales staff frequently "improvise" rather than letting you walk-away without buying something, and these forums contain several reports similar to yours. The screens in the Venue series employ a unique (Synaptics) technology which requires a specific pen (Dell Part# : 750-AADH) to access special digitizer features (drawing & handwriting). However, common touch screen finger gestures — clicking, dragging, scrolling, zooming will work with any ordinary "capacitive" stylus.

jkristia

20 Posts

February 11th, 2014 11:00

Thank you for your reply.

I talked to tech support today (after being transferred 3 times), and I was told that indeed this combination does not work, but they will have a new Stylus available in 2 weeks time and I will get one send to me free of charge.

Thanks

Anonymous User

11 Posts

March 2nd, 2014 18:00

Hi JKRISTIA,

I, for one, would be interested to hear a follow-up on your posts.  Have you received a new Stylus?  If not, have you heard any more from Dell tech support?  Just curious.  Thanks.

Thank you for your reply.

I talked to tech support today (after being transferred 3 times), and I was told that indeed this combination does not work, but they will have a new Stylus available in 2 weeks time and I will get one send to me free of charge.

Thanks

TravelingJack

15 Posts

March 2nd, 2014 19:00

I can imagine your frustration. Here's what I know and have experience with the stylus for the Dell Venue 8 Pro. I bought my Venue 8 Pro tablet a couple days before Christmas but did not order the corresponding stylus. I don't recall the exact sequence of events, but I'd read articles and seen a video or two about problems with the Venue 8 Pro stylus. According to at least one video, the stylus left little unintentional tails at the end of a drawn line and triggered controls unintentionally when near but not touching a control. Dell issued a firmware update, but that failed to correct the problems. Subsequently, the stylus was taken off the market, and reengineering was begun. About a week ago, I was notified a new stylus (01 version, I believe) was available. I ordered the newly engineered stylus, and it arrived about a week later. The stylus works in that it doesn't make unintentional tails and performs a number of tasks satisfactorily. Be aware though, some tasks are app specific, and others are general. As best I can recall, the app-specific tasks I've tried work. However in general use, the stylus is hit and miss. Sometimes the stylus works and sometimes not. Sometimes, the stylus triggers a control unintentionally when near that control. As in your case, the stylus arrived without any instructions except for how to install the battery, which I could have deduced myself. So, I called Dell and complained about the lack of instructions and asked for written instructions or a tutorial. That question was pushed aside, for the first order of business was installing new firmware on my tablet, which took a long time. After the smoke cleared, I was advised there were no instructions nor videos and was told to play with the stylus and learn what I could or words to that effect. I was then switched to the tech's boss who attempted to find some videos for me, but that effort wasn't successful. A couple days later, I called Dell about another problem and reintroduced the stylus issue. I was told Dell is attempting to create some tutorial material for the stylus and is also continuing to reengineer the stylus. There are other posts about the stylus issue elsewhere in the Community forums.

NTTD

12 Posts

March 4th, 2014 07:00

I talked to tech support today (after being transferred 3 times), and I was told that indeed this combination does not work, but they will have a new Stylus available in 2 weeks time and I will get one send to me free of charge.

On Feb 26th I was browsing accessories for the DV8P and noticed the pen was being offered again.  I chose overnight shipping as it was a free option.

The order details page on Dell's site is currently saying an estimated delivery date of 3/18/14.

rweisernj

3 Posts

March 14th, 2014 08:00

Hi,

I just received the new Stylist on March 12th.  It works fine for standard tasks on the Venue8.  But, I am new to the Venue8 (just received it yesterday) and I have no idea which apps to use for hand writing with this.  There is no documentation on it so, how does a new user find this info?

Rick

SMURF0760

1 Message

March 14th, 2014 08:00

I received the most recent Dell Venue 8 Pro Stylus last week after about a 4-6 week backlog.  Concur no instructions other than installing battery.  I attempted to install the latest FW for the touch device and found it will not download.  When attempting, it tries for ~10 mins then asks me to retry or cancel - i've attempted this 4-5 times.  I successfully upgraded other FW shortly after receiving the tablet in December so the inability to download this FW is a new issue to me/this device.  That said, the stylus seems to function perhaps to my limited expectations since i've not used a tablet with stylus in the past.  Now, after about a week of use, the pen becomes inactive and the only way to get it to work is to reinstall the battery.  After couple of days having to do this, now even that doesn't work...perhaps the battery is dead...i'll replace it today with a new battery.  Question...does the stylus remain ON even if not in use?  With my limited use, it seems that a week of battery life is unacceptable.  While using the stylus, I've also noticed the icon change intermittently.  Started out as a circle now a pointing finger.  Ummm?  Also, who knows what the rocker switch does?  Again, no instructions.  In general I'm happy with the Venue 8 Pro after ~3 mos of use.

Mikerman

915 Posts

March 14th, 2014 09:00

Hi,

I just received the new Stylist on March 12th.  It works fine for standard tasks on the Venue8.  But, I am new to the Venue8 (just received it yesterday) and I have no idea which apps to use for hand writing with this.  There is no documentation on it so, how does a new user find this info?

Rick

You might explore Microsoft OneNote and Windows Journal. 

Mikerman

915 Posts

March 14th, 2014 10:00

I received the most recent Dell Venue 8 Pro Stylus last week after about a 4-6 week backlog.  Concur no instructions other than installing battery.  I attempted to install the latest FW for the touch device and found it will not download.  When attempting, it tries for ~10 mins then asks me to retry or cancel - i've attempted this 4-5 times.  I successfully upgraded other FW shortly after receiving the tablet in December so the inability to download this FW is a new issue to me/this device.  That said, the stylus seems to function perhaps to my limited expectations since i've not used a tablet with stylus in the past.  Now, after about a week of use, the pen becomes inactive and the only way to get it to work is to reinstall the battery.  After couple of days having to do this, now even that doesn't work...perhaps the battery is dead...i'll replace it today with a new battery.  Question...does the stylus remain ON even if not in use?  With my limited use, it seems that a week of battery life is unacceptable.  While using the stylus, I've also noticed the icon change intermittently.  Started out as a circle now a pointing finger.  Ummm?  Also, who knows what the rocker switch does?  Again, no instructions.  In general I'm happy with the Venue 8 Pro after ~3 mos of use.

The stylus has had a "challenge" with regard to its battery, which seems to center on its auto-on feature.  As you saw, the stylus does not have a manual on-off switch.  Instead, it automatically turns on when in close proximity to the tablet, when the tablet is on.  Seemingly, the tablet is deemed to be on, for the stylus, when the tablet is in its connected standby (not fully off) state.  This may explain why your battery may be depleting so quickly.  Perhaps best to turn the tablet fully off when not In use, and/or not to keep the stylus next to the tablet. 

For operation, the functioning of the stylus changes per application--this may explain the icon changes you've experienced.  The rocker functioning also changes per application.  In Microsoft OneNote, the button (the bottom, if I recall correctly) enables the erase function.  In Windows, one of the buttons is supposed to activate a right-click (and possibly, the other button a regular click).  Absent Dell providing some documentation (there's some general info. in the Venue 11 Pro user manual), you'll need to experiment some (or perhaps check out some Youtube videos). 

TravelingJack

15 Posts

March 14th, 2014 11:00

I had Dell install the updated firmware for the new active stylus and recommend you do the same. That said, I'm not happy with the performance of the stylus and am especially not happy with the lack of information about the stylus. Dell agents assured me a month ago documentation and an upgrade for the stylus were in work, but I've not received either.

Mikerman

915 Posts

March 14th, 2014 13:00

For another, Windows Journal, a somewhat "lite" version of OneNote.  Plus, I would try the art/sketch programs--have seen some nice sketchwork done by people..

rweisernj

3 Posts

March 14th, 2014 13:00

I actually like the new stylus.  works well with Venue 8.  Started using it in One note.  Are there other apps that take advantage of it?

skmerrow

91 Posts

March 20th, 2014 21:00

I have the exact problem. Not sure if my latest version is defective or not.

mbakanas

1 Message

September 2nd, 2014 19:00

I find the stylus rocker buttons work well in OneNote, not at all in other apps that I tried in a quick test. In OneNote, the bottom rocker button initiates a small circle on the screen that is used as a lasso select - hold it while you lasso around abject you wish to select. The upper rocker button is used to tap-delete. Hold it and objects you tap will be deleted. The upper button also does the same in PowerPoint. The bottom button initiates a small circle in other apps, but it has no effect for me. Press and hold brings up the right-click menu, regardless of whether the bottom button is pushed. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has more info or a different experience. I cannot find any documentation or helpful reviews,

TravelingJack

15 Posts

September 2nd, 2014 19:00

Thank you for your input. I'll try your techniques when I receive my latest replacement active stylus. So far, I've had two styli, both of which have become inoperable. That said, there are several versions of OneNote. The version I'm currently using is the one that comes with Office 365 Personal. Perhaps the active stylus has different behaviors with different versions of OneNote -- or not. For what it's worth, I've discovered the touch OneNote app that comes with Windows 8.1 Update 1 doesn't work with the OneNote app that comes with Office 365 Personal, which is OneNote 2013. As best I've been able to tell when my styli have been working, the active stylus has different behaviors for different software. Much of what the active stylus does could be done with a fine-point, soft-point stylus. Personally, I don't like the hard-point stylus and the annoying tap, tap, tap noises it makes.

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